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www.SDNEWS.com Volume 15, Number 37
THURSDAY, MAY 27, 2010
San Diego Community Newspaper Group
Love, loss and strength A U.S. veteran attends a past ceremony at the Mount Soledad VeterDON BALCH | Beach & Bay Press ans Memorial.
Veterans ceremony set at Mt. Soledad
The Hutchison family strikes a surfing pose beside Crystal Pier. From left are Photo by DEB SCHWEDHELM Neil, Charlie, Andrew, Sam and Margot.
Sam Hutchison’s legacy lives on BY JENNA FRAZIER | VILLAGE NEWS
BY JENNA FRAZIER | VILLAGE NEWS
He may be small, but Charlie Hutchison, 3½, a Pacific Beach resident, knows how to think big. Along with his older brother, Andrew, 7, and his parents, Neil and Margot, he helped La Jolla United Methodist Church Nursery School (LJUMCNS), where he is a student, raise $446 at a used book sale on May 5 and 6 to memorialize his 9-year-old brother, Samuel Thomas Hutchison. Sam passed away March 12 from the effects of neuroblastoma, a vicious cancer common in infants and children, after a battle that lasted more than half his life. Liza Olmert, a LJUMCNS board member, said the sale was planned last fall as part of a series of fundraisers held throughout the year while Sam was still fighting the disease. “When Sam passed away, we decided to hold the sale as a way to honor him,” Olmert said. “We wanted this to be a way for the community to commemorate his impact.” All proceeds from the sale benefit Magic Water, Inc., a nonprofit corporation started by the Hutchison family in 2007 to raise funds that would enable families to explore alternate treatments in a field where straightforward cures are unheard of. The foundation’s name originated from a young girl’s parents who described chemotherapy as “magic water” that would eliminate the pain she experienced as a result of cancer. To date, it has raised more than $1 million.
Sam’s parents describe him as a diehard competitive, staunchly cheerful, active and insightful 9-year old with an insatiable zest for life. His favorite hobbies included “any sports, really,” Margot said, with soccer, football, biking, hiking, swimming, skateboarding and Razor scootering topping the list. He also loved playing with his brothers, reading, video games, chess, Scrabble, assembling science projects and indulging in his favorite food — tacos. Andrew had a hard time selecting a favorite quality of Sam’s. “Everything about him was so special,” he said. “He always helped
The 29-foot cross that crowns Mount Soledad may continue to foster controversy, but that won’t prevent the Mount Soledad Memorial Association from holding a ceremony on Monday, May 31 to honor United States war veterans. The event, which marketing representative Bob Phillips expects to attract a crowd of about 1,000, including District 1 City Councilwoman Sherri Lightner of La Jolla, will last from 2 to 3:15 p.m. at the Mount Soledad Veterans Memorial. The service will commemorate the sacrifices of Medal of Honor recipient Army Col. Robert Howard with a plaque to be installed on the Veterans Wall. Howard, who is believed to be one of the most heavily-decorated American veterans in recent history, served five tours of duty during the Vietnam War and was nominated for the Medal of Honor three separate times for different acts. Wounded 14 times 54 months, he received the honor in 1971 from President Richard M. Nixon. He also received eight purple hearts, four bronze stars and two distinguished service crosses. Fellow Vietnam veteran and Medal of Honor recipient Marine Corps Col.
SEE HUTCHISON, Page 6
SEE SOLEDAD, Page 6
Samuel Thomas Hutchison
Photo by DEB SCHWEDHELM
About Sam
Baseball exhibit features photos by fans professional photography and focuses instead on the personal contribution of As a testimony to one of America’s devoted fans. most beloved pastimes, the La Jolla Riford Strasberg, who worked in marketing Library will display a collection of fan- for the San Diego Padres from 1975 to captured snapshots that portray poignant 1996, will be present in the library on moments in the last 100 years of major June 5 from 10 to 11:30 a.m. and again league, minor league and Negro league on June 22 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. to accept baseball throughout the month of June. photo submissions and hear the stories Assembled by local baseball historian behind the snapshots. He will collect phoAndy Strasberg as part of his ongoing tos of players, ballparks, mascots, scoreFantography project, the exhibit eschews boards and “just about anything else that BY JENNA FRAZIER | VILLAGE NEWS
relates to professional baseball” as long as they are not taken by professionals and do not depict baseball game action. “At any game, there is a crew of professional photographers assigned to capture stolen bases and great catches. This is not a competition between professionals and non-professionals,” Strasberg said. “It’s about the game experience as seen through the lens of the camera of a fan.” Strasberg’s project was influenced by a lifelong devotion to the sport. His father,
a traveling pharmaceuticals salesman, took him to his first game and encouraged Strasberg’s passion during his childhood growing up in the Bronx. Later, Strasberg said, he developed a relationship as a fan with former New York Yankee Roger Maris. “I’d get to the games incredibly early and I was too nervous to say anything,” Strasberg said. “So I handed him a note SEE BASEBALL, Page 4
This snapshot is of Tony Gwynn Jr., who is now a center fielder for the San Diego Padres. But back in 1990 he was just a kid who liked to watch his dad play baseball. Photo by LARRY CARPA